Photography News - The latest digital photography hardware and software news, reviews, articles, tips, techniques and more!

Apple today released Aperture 2.1, which introduces an open plug-in architecture that makes it easy for photographers to use specialized third party imaging software right from within Aperture. Available today as a free software update, Aperture 2.1 includes the Apple-developed plug-in, Dodge & Burn, which adds brush-based tools for dodge (lighten), burn (darken), contrast, saturation, sharpen and blur. Over the coming months, third party software developers will deliver image editing plug-ins for localized editing, filters and effects, noise analysis and reduction, fisheye lens correction and more.

“Available in black or silver, the Mju 1030 SW is the first in the ‘Tough’ series with a 10-megapixel image sensor. Waterproof to 10 metres, it is also capable of withstanding a drop of two metres and can tolerate temperatures down to -10 degrees Celsius and pressures of up to 100 kilograms, making it the ‘toughest’ in the range. The new camera’s feature set has also evolved since the original 795 SW model, making it even more attractive to photographers who enjoy water sports, skiing and similar adventurous activities.”

“As with most industries producing consumer goods, digital camera companies will often make the most of their investment in research and development by launching several very similar models, reusing the same basic design and sharing most of their components and features, but differing in a few details to produce a range of distinct products. Sometimes the result can be surprising. For example the Panasonic TZ3 differs from the TZ2 only in the size of the monitor screen and an extra megapixel of resolution, but the result is a significantly better camera. However sometimes the surprise works the other way. Samsung has two very similar cameras in the 8.1-megapixel NV8 and today’s camera, the 10.1-megapixel NV15, but in this case adding more megapixels has not produced the desired effect.”

“On the fun scale, the Nikon Coolpix L14 scores big. It’s light enough to take anywhere and compact enough to fit anywhere, too. Controls are so simple you won’t forget them. And the menu system is the clearest and easiest to use I’ve seen. If you don’t understand an item, there’s a very easy to use help system available, too.

Digital zoom was annoyingly slow and image sharpness too soft for our taste. But color rendition was exemplary and in-camera editing features like D-Lighting really worth getting to know. Movie mode even offers a stop-motion option.”

onOne Software, Inc., previews today at WPPI 2008 its new software plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements - FocalPoint 1.0. onOne Software’s FocalPoint is a selective focus and vignetting plug-in designed to help photographers easily blur and/or vignette areas of an image.

PENTAX Imaging Company has announced the PENTAX Optio V20 compact digital camera with a 5X zoom lens, 8.0 megapixels, and a generous 3.0 inch LCD monitor.  Ultra-slim and stylish in design, this latest PENTAX compact digital camera makes it easy to capture and to view images.